Othello’s Monologue - Line-by-Line Paraphrase

Original: Had it pleased heaven
Modern: If God had wanted

Original: To try me with affliction; had they rain’d
Modern: to test me with suffering; if he had poured down

Original: All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head.
Modern: every kind of disease and humiliation on my defenseless body,

Original: Steep’d me in poverty to the very lips,
Modern: drowned me in poverty up to my chin,

Original: Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes,
Modern: made me and all my greatest dreams into prisoners,

Original: I should have found in some place of my soul
Modern: I would have found somewhere deep inside me

Original: A drop of patience: but, alas, to make me
Modern: a little bit of patience: but, sadly, to make me

Original: A fixed figure for the time of scorn
Modern: a permanent target for Time (or Scorn personified)

Original: To point his slow unmoving finger at!
Modern: to point its slow, steady finger at forever!

Original: Yet could I bear that too; well, very well:
Modern: Yet I could endure even that; yes, I could handle it:

Original: But there, where I have garner’d up my heart,
Modern: But in that place where I have stored up all my love,

Original: Where either I must live, or bear no life;
Modern: where I either have a reason to live, or have no life at all;

Original: The fountain from the which my current runs,
Modern: the source from which my life’s stream flows,

Original: Or else dries up; to be discarded thence!
Modern: or else runs dry; to be thrown away from there!

Original: Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads
Modern: Or to keep it as a water tank for disgusting toads

Original: To knot and gender in! Turn thy complexion there,
Modern: to tangle together and breed in! Change your expression at that thought,

Original: Patience, thou young and rose-lipp’d cherubin,—
Modern: Patience, you young and rosy-lipped angel,—

Original: Ay, there, look grim as hell!
Modern: Yes, at that thought, look as dark and terrible as hell itself!

Original: O, ay; as summer flies are in the shambles,
Modern: Oh, yes; like summer flies are in a slaughterhouse,

Original: That quicken even with blowing. O thou weed,
Modern: that come to life even as they lay their eggs. Oh, you weed,

Original: Who art so lovely fair and smell’st so sweet
Modern: who are so beautiful to look at and smell so sweet

Original: That the sense aches at thee, would thou hadst
Modern: that my senses hurt from experiencing you, I wish you had

Original: ne’er been born!
Modern: never been born!

Original: Was this fair paper, this most goodly book,
Modern: Was this pure white paper, this most beautiful book,

Original: Made to write ‘whore’ upon? What committed!
Modern: made just to have the word ‘whore’ written on it? What have you committed!

Original: Committed! O thou public commoner!
Modern: Committed! Oh, you prostitute available to everyone!

Original: I should make very forges of my cheeks,
Modern: My cheeks should become like blacksmith’s furnaces,

Original: That would to cinders burn up modesty,
Modern: that would burn up all sense of decency to ashes,

Original: Did I but speak thy deeds. What committed!
Modern: if I were to actually speak aloud what you’ve done. What have you committed!

Original: Heaven stops the nose at it and the moon winks,
Modern: Heaven holds its nose at the stench of it and the moon closes her eyes,

Original: The bawdy wind that kisses all it meets
Modern: even the promiscuous wind that touches everything it encounters

Original: Is hush’d within the hollow mine of earth,
Modern: is silenced within the hollow caves of the earth,

Original: And will not hear it. What committed!
Modern: and refuses to hear about it. What have you committed!

Original: Impudent strumpet!
Modern: You shameless whore!

In Act IV, Scene 2 of Othello, the scene opens with Othello interrogating Emilia about Desdemona’s behavior and whether she has observed any suspicious conduct between Desdemona and Cassio. Emilia firmly defends Desdemona’s virtue, insisting she has never witnessed any improper behavior and that Desdemona is honest and faithful. Despite Emilia’s testimony, Othello dismisses her and sends for Desdemona. When Desdemona enters, Othello sends Emilia away to stand guard at the door, treating her like a keeper of a brothel. He then confronts Desdemona directly, calling her false and a strumpet, while Desdemona protests her innocence with increasing desperation, unable to understand what crime she has supposedly committed.

After Othello storms out, leaving Desdemona in tears, Emilia returns and tries to comfort her mistress. Iago and Emilia discuss Othello’s disturbing behavior, with Emilia suggesting that some villain has poisoned Othello’s mind against Desdemona. Iago pretends ignorance and concern while internally maintaining his deception. Roderigo then enters, complaining to Iago that he has received no results from the jewels and gifts he has been giving Iago to pass along to Desdemona, threatening to confront Desdemona directly and demand his gifts back. Iago manipulates Roderigo once again, convincing him that Othello is being sent to Mauritania and that Cassio will take his place in Cyprus with Desdemona, unless Cassio meets with an unfortunate accident. Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio that very night.

Othello opens in Venice, where the Moorish general Othello has secretly married Desdemona, the daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio. When Iago, Othello’s ensign who harbors deep resentment for being passed over for promotion in favor of Cassio, reveals this marriage to Brabantio, the senator accuses Othello of using witchcraft to seduce his daughter. However, when the Duke of Venice summons Othello to lead the Venetian forces against a Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Desdemona herself testifies that she married Othello willingly out of love. The Duke dismisses Brabantio’s charges, and Othello departs for Cyprus with Desdemona, Iago, and his officers.

Once in Cyprus, the Turkish fleet is destroyed by a storm, but Iago begins executing his plan for revenge. He manipulates Cassio into a drunken brawl that results in Cassio’s demotion, then convinces Cassio to seek Desdemona’s help in regaining Othello’s favor. Iago uses these innocent meetings between Desdemona and Cassio as evidence to plant seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind, suggesting that his wife is having an affair with the former lieutenant. To strengthen his deception, Iago arranges for Othello to overhear him speaking suggestively with Cassio about Bianca, Cassio’s mistress, while Othello believes they are discussing Desdemona.

The manipulation reaches its climax when Iago obtains Desdemona’s handkerchief—Othello’s first gift to her—through his wife Emilia, who serves as Desdemona’s attendant. Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s chambers and later shows it to Othello as proof of the affair. Consumed by jealousy and convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello smothers her in their bed. When Emilia discovers the murder, she reveals Iago’s treachery before he kills her. Othello, realizing he has murdered his innocent wife, stabs himself and dies beside Desdemona. Iago is arrested, Cassio is appointed to govern Cyprus, and Iago is taken away to face torture and execution for his crimes.